In 2007, Malaysia recorded the tenth consecutive year of trade surplus. The trade surplus of RM100.53 billion registered last year was the second highest ever recorded.

2. Malaysia's total trade in 2007 continued on an upward trend, growing by 3.7 per cent to record RM1.1097 trillion from RM1.0697 trillion in 2006. This is the second year that Malaysia's total trade had surpassed the RM1 trillion mark. Exports were valued at RM605.1 billion, an increase of 2.7 per cent from 2006, while imports grew by 4.9 per cent to RM504.57 billion.

DIVERSIFIED MARKETS SUSTAINED EXPORT GROWTH

3. Global economic growth in 2007, estimated at 3.6 per cent by the World Bank, resulted in sustained global demand for imports, which positively impacted Malaysia's export performance.

4. Export growth in 2007, emanated from both traditional and emerging markets, especially from countries such as China, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Republic of Korea (ROK), Viet Nam, India and Pakistan. Collectively, exports to these markets grew by 14.6 per cent, significantly higher than the 2.7 per cent increase in Malaysia's total exports..